Introduction

Cephalopod is a two player game which employs a 5x5 board, 24 dice of one color, and 24 dice of another color. The board
starts out vacant as shown in Figure 1. Mark Steere invented Cephalopod on February 25, 2006.

Basic Placement

Players take turns adding dice of their own color to the board,
one die per turn. A newly placed die must show a one, unless it’s a capturing
placement, in which case it must show a two or higher. Each player will always have a
placement available and must make one. Players cannot pass on their turn.

Object of the Game

Once the board has been completely filled, the player
whose dice occupy the majority of the squares wins. Draws and ties cannot occur in
Cephalopod.

Capturing Placement

If a die is placed horizontally or vertically adjacent
(hereafter “adjacent”) to two dice, and the sum of the pip counts (number of spots
on the top surface of a die) on those two adjacent dice is six or less, then the
currently played die must show the pip sum of its two adjacent dice, and the player
must remove those two adjacent dice from the board immediately, while it is still his
turn. In Figure 2 Paren places a two in the center of the board, and thereby captures
the two ones. Captured dice are returned to their owners.

Similarly, if a die is placed adjacent to three or four dice, and if two, three, or four of its
adjacent dice have a pip sum of six or less, then two, three, or four of those adjacent
dice (whose pip sum is six or less) must be removed, and the played die must show the
pip sum of the removed dice. In Figure 3, Angle plays a six in the center of the board
and thereby captures all four adjacent dice whose pip sum is six (1+1+1+3=6).

Captures are mandatory only when placing a die onto a square from which captures
are possible.

Non-Capturing Placement

A player can make a non-capturing placement
simply by adding a die to a square from which no captures are possible. A
non-capturing placement must show a single pip. In Figure 5 Angle places a die in the
right center square. The only adjacent dice are a five and a two. The five and two
cannot be captured since their sum is greater than six (5+2=7). Angle’s placement is
therefore non-capturing and must show a one.

Players always begin their turn by adding a die. Only dice which are adjacent to the
currently added die, and whose pip sum equals the pip count of the currently added die
may be removed during the current turn.

Multi-Player Cephalopod

Cephalopod can be played by more than two players.
When the board has been completely filled, the player whose dice occupy the majority
of the squares wins. If there is a tie for first place, then the last place player is eliminated,
his dice are removed from the board, and the game continues among the remaining players. So in a three player
game for example, if a score of 9,9,7 is reached, the player with seven dice is eliminated, his seven dice
are removed from the board, and the game continues between the two remaining players.

If there is a tie for first place and a tie for last place, then the last place players are eliminated,
their dice are removed from the board, and the game continues among the remaining players. So in a five player
game for example, if a score of 6,6,5,4,4 is reached, the players with four dice are eliminated, their eight
dice are removed from the board, and the game continues among the three remaining players.